The Royals are not believed to have had any teams express interest in All-Star and Gold Glove catcher Salvador Perez, likely because the asking price would be too high.

Kansas City doesn't seem anxious to move Perez, either.

"Not really," general manager Dayton Moore said.

The Royals also seem open to eventually unloading the contracts of right-handers Jason Hammel (owed $11 million) and Joakim Soria (owed $10 million). But those deals aren't likely to happen soon and likely will require the club to send money in the deals if they do happen.

It would appear the Royals could leave here without any trades coming to fruition. Nothing appears imminent, Moore said.

The Royals have made it clear they are in for a full rebuild, meaning virtually anyone on their roster is available. What the club wants in return are controllable players to restock the farm system, likely in the 19-to-22-year-old range.

"You have to be very strategic in what you want in return," Moore said."If you get what you want in return, it's OK. Otherwise, it's a bird in hand [thing].

"You want a [prospect's] talent that blends in with the next wave of young players we have. That's when you make the move."

Dealing players such as Duffy, Hammel, Herrera and Soria would shave payroll, something else Moore is determined to do as he hopes to bank resources for the next run at being a contender, which he seems to be targeting for 2020.

But teams seem to be cautious right now in terms of spending, Moore said.

"I think what happens is that everyone feels compelled to go through the process and filter through who you match up with the best," Moore said. "And I think that a lot of the teams are going through the economics where the dollar sign attached to the player is an issue, maybe more so than in recent years."

The latest on the Hosmer market

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer has been linked to the Padres this week, but his agent, Scott Boras, would not comment directly on those rumors as he addressed reporters on a variety of topics at the Winter Meetings.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore has said he is still holding out hope that Kansas City could possibly re-sign Hosmer, even though the team is in rebuilding mode.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer has been linked to the Padres this week, but his agent, Scott Boras, would not comment directly on those rumors as he addressed reporters on a variety of topics at the Winter Meetings.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore has said he is still holding out hope that Kansas City could possibly re-sign Hosmer, even though the team is in rebuilding mode.

"When you have players that are young free agents and leaders and have that prestige value that have done everything, really, as a player, and you can do it at a young age, the demand is great," Boras said. "Everybody looks at this from, 'I can use him if I'm a now team, I can use him if I'm a team a year from now, or I can use him if I'm a team that is building something years from now.' His glove fits all teams."

As he did at the General Managers Meetings last month, Boras also continues to sell Hosmer to potential buyers on his "prestige value," or "PV."

"We know that with players from clubs, everywhere you talk, every meeting you have, they know of the skill level of the player. But when the player has prestige value, it brings tremendous value to his [Wins Above Replacement]," Boras said. "So when we talk about WAR, we put the PV to it. There are minus players that have minus PV. And there are players that have Major League standard prestige value, and players that have a well-above-average or elite prestige value.

"And certainly, when you're a champion at 25; you've won major playoff games; you get key hits when your club is down, 7-3, in the postseason; they end up winning those games; you make elite mental moves on every level of the sport … you are there to console, to speak for your organization when they have a tragic event -- both for the players' family [and] the fan base for which he's playing for -- and you also have the result -- the result is that proven prestige value, is when you have a ring on your finger. And you set the tone."

Royals general manager Dayton Moore said on Monday he would entertain offers on virtually anyone on the 25-man roster, though he seemed to hesitate when asked about catcher Salvador Perez, saying that it seemed unlikely the return for Perez would ever be acceptable.

Meanwhile, Moore continues to purvey offers on other players including Duffy, Alexander, Herrera and perhaps second baseman Whit Merrifield.

Moore said no deals appeared imminent. But the Royals often view the Winter Meetings as a stepping stone to making deals shortly thereafter, as they did with the Zack Greinke deal in 2010 and the James Shields-Wade Davis trade in '12.

"It's an important position, especially in our ballpark," general manager Dayton Moore said on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings. "We always want to build as much depth as we can there. We have Paulo Orlando. We have Billy Burns.

"It's an important position, especially in our ballpark," general manager Dayton Moore said on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings. "We always want to build as much depth as we can there. We have Paulo Orlando. We have Billy Burns.

"And Bubba Starling, we believe in his ability to stay positive. He'll start the season in Triple-A. But we wouldn't hesitate [to bring him up] if he got off to a good start. Depending on what's going on, he's an option as well."

Starling, 25, was a first-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, but he has struggled mightily offensively in the Minors. He has a career .690 OPS in six seasons. He hit a combined .183 in '16 and then .248 last season at Triple-A Omaha.

But Moore said he still envisions Starling as a future Major Leaguer.

"We do," Moore said. "We're not going to rush this process. We haven't thus far. We will continue to stay patient. We know he can play a terrific center field. We've seen other players like Byron Buxton who came up and took their lumps offensively, but played great defense. We've got our own players who did that.

KC gifts KU Hospital with dugout-themed room

By
Adrian Garro

Being in a waiting room can be stressful for a variety of reasons. Sure, there might be a stack of magazines on the table to help pass the time and some daytime television could be in order, but what if you wanted more?

Thanks to the Royals and their Royals Charities, visitors to the University of Kansas Hospital will be able to fully immerse themselves in a waiting area inspired by the look and feel of a Major League dugout. It's pretty great:

Royals' farm system is priority at Meetings

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The first full day of the Winter Meetings on Monday had Royals general manager Dayton Moore and his staff poring over the plan to rebuild and restock their once-potent farm system.

The rest of baseball knows this, too, which is why the Royals are getting calls on players such as left-handers Danny Duffy and Scott Alexander, and second baseman Whit Merrifield and reliever Kelvin Herrera.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The first full day of the Winter Meetings on Monday had Royals general manager Dayton Moore and his staff poring over the plan to rebuild and restock their once-potent farm system.

The rest of baseball knows this, too, which is why the Royals are getting calls on players such as left-handers Danny Duffy and Scott Alexander, and second baseman Whit Merrifield and reliever Kelvin Herrera.

Moore knows trading any of the club's popular players will be tough on the fan base. But he will listen to all offers.

"Those are the guys you have to move to multiply the return for our farm system," Moore said. "Everything we do has to be centered around building our farm system. Any deal we do has to be predicated on will it save us money and get back players to build our farm system.

"You have to trade players with high value to get maximum return."

And payroll concerns are why the Royals likely will be only able to sign one of their numerous free agents, if that. Also, any other free agent the Royals might shop for will have to be a bargain, Moore said.

"It's not like 2006 when we were in Nashville at our first Winter Meetings and we went out and signed Gil Meche," Moore said. "We're not doing something like that this time around. It's a different mindset. Hosmer's different because he's our player. We would look to do that if it works out."

And Moore noted that re-signing Hosmer would require shedding payroll elsewhere, perhaps in a severe fashion.

The Royals essentially are paying for a spending bill that didn't even produce a winning season the past two years. The Royals went 81-81 in 2016 and 80-82 in '17.

Moore estimates the club lost $65 million to $68 million the past two seasons.

"We're going to look to trim payroll -- not because [owner] David Glass is telling us to do that," Moore said. "But it's like buying a house or going to college -- you save your money so you can use those resources later, like in 2020 and 2021 for us.

"We got to a World Series with a $96 million payroll, won a championship with a $120 million payroll. Then, we won 81 [games] with a $140 million payroll, and won 80 with a $150 million payroll."

Moore and his lieutenants are formulating a Royals plan for the next decade, not just the next two or three years, and it will be painful at first, he said.

"It can't take away what we accomplished in going to back-to-back World Series," Moore said. "We've been through this before and we're better prepared intellectually and grit-wise to do it again.

"What we're going to do looking forward is to build our farm system and win for 10-15 years without going through the winning and losing cycles, like we just did. That's our mission."

• Spring Training meet and greet and VIP experience -- opening bid $750• Social media assistant for a day -- opening bid $750• Team photographer for a day -- opening bid $500

The numerous people associated with the game who have been affected by cancer originally inspired the initiative for the auction, which has raised more than $900,000 since its inception. With Katy Feeney's unfortunate and sudden passing last April, as well as her commitment to helping and mentoring others throughout her 40 years in the game, the charity auction shifted to support this specific cause.

The fund will support an annual scholarship that will be awarded to a female student at the University of San Francisco who most exemplifies Feeney's character. Eligible candidates for the scholarship will be students who are pursuing a career in sports management and who also demonstrate a financial need to attain an advanced degree.

Feeney joined the office of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs in 1977 and ascended to supervise the National League's scheduling and public-relations functions. When the NL and the American League Office merged with the Office of the Commissioner in 2000, Feeney directed the construction of the entire Major League schedule and managed many weather-related issues that affected the schedule.

Feeney was the daughter of Charles "Chub" Feeney, a longtime executive with the New York and San Francisco Giants and the former president of the National League.

Unpopular '12 trade sets up KC for Series win

KANSAS CITY -- In the final hours of the 2012 Winter Meetings in Nashville, Royals general manager Dayton Moore huddled with his top scouts and front-office lieutenants in a suite at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

There had been a trade offer on the table for more than a day, a deal that would require Moore to commit to the future and no doubt draw criticism from a frustrated fan base and a skeptical national media.

KANSAS CITY -- In the final hours of the 2012 Winter Meetings in Nashville, Royals general manager Dayton Moore huddled with his top scouts and front-office lieutenants in a suite at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

There had been a trade offer on the table for more than a day, a deal that would require Moore to commit to the future and no doubt draw criticism from a frustrated fan base and a skeptical national media.

Moore had taken over the job to rebuild the Royals' organization in 2006, and by now he felt in is heart it was time to push forward. The trade that would do that sat in front of him.

"We had spent years building one of the top farm systems in baseball," Moore recalled. "But it was definitely time to start winning at the big league level. A great farm system is nice to have, but the whole point of it is to help your team win at the big league level. That's where we were."

The Royals hadn't had a winning season since 2003, and Moore was convinced his team was just one or two players away from becoming a winner and a contender. Prospects such as Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain had reached the Major Leagues but had yet to mature into winners.

So Moore examined the offer from the Tampa Bay Rays: pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis (and later infielder Elliot Johnson) to the Royals for top prospect Wil Myers, pitchers Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery, as well as outfielder Patrick Leonard.

Moore knew if he could just get one frontline starting pitcher and another with frontline potential, he could transform his team into a winner. Plus, Shields had the reputation of being a strong clubhouse presence who could guide young players into winners.

Moore wanted the deal. But he listened to his advisors.

Moore was ready for the push-back. In building a top-notch farm system for years, Moore had given the Royals' fan base hope in the potential of such players as Myers and Montgomery. That precious farm system was the reason Royals fans and bloggers had reason to believe in the future, after years of losing seasons.

But Moore didn't buy into the romanticism of the farm system.

"You don't win anything with a great farm system," Moore said. "You have to use that farm system to make you better at the big league level, pure and simple."

Moore's inclination was to make the deal. But even his own people were highly skeptical that night in Nashville, Tenn. No one wanted to part with Myers, the team's top prospect, a can't-miss player.

That's when Moore walked to a chalkboard in his hotel suite, a chalkboard that had nearly a hundred names of Royals prospects written on it by order of position and ranking.

Moore erased the names of Myers, Montgomery, Leonard and Odorizzi. He then turned to his troops and said, "What are the odds we can replace these guys? I mean, it's not like they have abolished the Draft. We can reload next year and the year after that, right?"

The men in the room looked at each other, perplexed at first. Though not entirely convinced, mainly because they had spent more than six years rebuilding one of the worst farm systems in baseball into one of the best, they began to nod in agreement over Moore's reasoning.

Moore decided to sit on the idea of the trade until after they left Nashville, but 48 hours later, he decided to make the deal.

"At that point, where we were, we needed to take the next step," Moore said. "We needed to start winning at the big league level, and we needed to learn how to win. We brought guys in who knew how to win. And it was time for our young players to start believing they could win. Quite frankly, we had to make that next move."

And that is exactly what happened. The 2013 Royals won 86 games -- their first winning season in 10 years -- and stayed in the postseason hunt until the final two weeks of the season.

Shields was a big part of it. He went 13-9 and made 34 starts, tied for the MLB high. He threw 228 2/3 innings, and more importantly, he helped to change the culture in the clubhouse.

"We started to believe how fantastic it was to win games," Hosmer said. "We believed how important winning was. Big Game James brought in the disco lights and smoke machine to celebrate each win in the clubhouse, and we really bought in to that concept. It was like each night was winning the World Series. We needed to know that."

The skeptics remained, however. National columnists insisted the Royals got robbed in the trade, and a local blogger even suggested that the Royals gave up everything to be "mediocre."

Moore himself was lampooned by local newspaper columnists, bloggers and talk-show hosts for suggesting after 2013 that finally getting a winning season "felt like winning a World Series."

But the critics were silenced a year later when Shields and Davis, the latter of whom transitioned to the bullpen and posted a 1.00 ERA and later evolved into one of baseball's top closers, helped push the Royals to Game 7 of the World Series against the Giants. A year after that, the Royals won their first World Series championship in 30 years.

Salvy crucial component to Royals' success

KANSAS CITY -- As the Royals ponder a possible rebuild in 2018 and beyond, there is one rock solid piece who will be vital next season: catcher Salvador Perez.

"The truth is," one rival scout said, "the Royals are not the same team when Salvy isn't there. He has a presence on defense and at the plate."

KANSAS CITY -- As the Royals ponder a possible rebuild in 2018 and beyond, there is one rock solid piece who will be vital next season: catcher Salvador Perez.

"The truth is," one rival scout said, "the Royals are not the same team when Salvy isn't there. He has a presence on defense and at the plate."

Fans saw that last season. When Perez was sidelined because of an intercostal strain in August, the Royals, who had been in the hunt for an American League Wild Card spot, lost considerable ground and went 6-9 in his absence.

"There's no doubt what kind of impact Salvy has for us," manager Ned Yost said this summer. "His bat is a big part of our lineup. And he can do so many things defensively that help us."

It's indeed true that Perez, 27, who signed a five-year, $52.5 million extension in 2016, is a major force in the Royals' lineup. Scouts continue to see him as an ascending player.

Perez had won four straight AL Gold Glove Awards before losing out to the Angels' Martin Maldonado this season. But Perez remains one of the top defensive catchers in baseball and, if he remains healthy, likely is a Hall of Fame candidate.

Perez continues to improve at the plate as well. He posted a .792 OPS in 2017, his highest since 2012. He also posted career highs in home runs (27) and RBIs (80).

Backup catcher Drew Butera marvels at Perez's skill set.

"You just don't find many catchers who can do all the things he can do offensively and defensively," Butera said this summer. "It's pretty special to watch him every day."

Perez's presence especially will be important as the Royals ponder that possible rebuild.

Perez likely will move up in the middle of the order and hit perhaps cleanup in the absence of free agents Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain.

"What Salvy has shown is that he can change a game with one swing," Yost noted. "You just never know what you'll get when he is at the plate, and if you're in a close game, opposing pitchers have to be careful with him -- one mistake can cost you the game. We've seen that time and time again."

KC signs righty Barlow to one-year deal

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals added to their pitching depth on Thursday by signing right-hander Scott Barlow to a one-year, $900,000 deal.

Barlow, 24, was a sixth-round pick of the Dodgers in the 2011 Draft out of a Santa Clarita, Calif., high school. According to a source, his deal is a split contract: $650,000 at the big league level and $225,000 at the Minor League level.

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals added to their pitching depth on Thursday by signing right-hander Scott Barlow to a one-year, $900,000 deal.

Barlow, 24, was a sixth-round pick of the Dodgers in the 2011 Draft out of a Santa Clarita, Calif., high school. According to a source, his deal is a split contract: $650,000 at the big league level and $225,000 at the Minor League level.

Barlow, who is 6-foot-3 and weighs 215 pounds, was 7-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 26 starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City and Double-A Tulsa last season, with 160 strikeouts in 139 2/3 innings last season.